Who’s the most important person to befriend if you want free access to a certain place?
The leader? Or maybe a key figure?

No.

'It’s the gatekeeper.'

The gatekeeper is someone whose role is to guard the place, ensuring the safety of those inside. If you get on the gatekeeper's good side, they’ll ultimately guarantee your safety as well.

In this case, Lafiré is the gatekeeper of the hero’s party. Among all the heroines in the party, she was the one who was most wary of me.

So if I can show that I’m getting along well with Lafiré, I’ll naturally win favor from Aria and Serlin as well.

'I’m a genius.'

If being smart were a crime, I’d be guilty of the gravest of secrets. How could I be this clever?

"Seduce him? How…?"

Lafiré glanced around and then asked in a low voice. It seemed that she was already thinking about the hero, judging by the slight blush that colored her cheeks.

"Louis, do you really know how to seduce men?"

Lafiré asked, her face full of innocent curiosity.

"…Of course. I’m pretty good at it."

"Ohh…"

Luckily, she didn’t ask me to go seduce some random guy in the village as a demonstration. Before she could catch on to anything else, I quickly got back to the main point.

"How do you normally act around the hero?"

"Act? Hmm… I try to be friendly and approach him casually."

"You’ll need to change that approach."

"Change it?"

"Yes. Think about it. The hero has a very kind and gentle personality, right?"

"That’s true."

"Now imagine this: one day, you get injured in battle. The hero rushes over, grabs your injured arm, and angrily scolds you."

"Hmm… The idea of Aswell getting angry is hard to picture."

"Let’s just say it happens. He scolds you, saying something like, ‘Who gave you permission to get hurt?!’"

In short, I was asking her to imagine the hero showing a tsundere-like, tough-love attitude. Lafiré mulled it over for a moment, and then her face flushed a deep red.

It seems this elf princess is rather easy to make blush.

"Th-that… doesn’t sound too bad."

"You just need to flip that around."

"You mean… I should get angry at Aswell if he gets hurt?"

Just when I thought Lafiré was on the right track, she completely missed the point.

"Do you really think the hero will get hurt?"

"…No, I guess not."

"And getting angry doesn’t suit you, Lafiré. What you should show is ‘seriousness.’"

"Oh… ohhh."

"I spoke to the hero yesterday and found out about our next travel route. Along the way, there’s a field of flowers…"

"Mm-hmm, and then? And then?"

That conversation stretched on for about an hour, during which Lafiré was unable to contain her giddy excitement at the thought of being with the hero.

'Maybe this plan is too much for the elf princess.'

Still, I couldn’t help but feel proud of myself, and I made a small gesture of brushing my nose.

"Thank you, Louis…! But wait, there’s a problem."

"What is it?"

"The flower field is a bit off the main path, right? How am I supposed to get Aswell to go there…?"

"That’s something you’ll have to figure out, Lafiré."

"How can I do that? I’m too scared!"

"…I’ll take care of that."

Fortunately, there was that little incident with the hero the other day. I could use that as an excuse to lead him to the flower field.

Two days later, the hero’s party left the village and set off on their journey. Until now, we had been staying in the southern part of the empire.

From here, we’d be heading west, slowly chasing rumors of monsters and demon sightings.

‘The most important events are… meeting the witch heroine and the Twilight Citadel.’

Both would happen within the next three months, which meant we had plenty of time.

‘Though there will be plenty of battles.’

In this world, monsters randomly appear wherever they like, threatening people without warning. They aren’t native to this world, but rather teleport from the demon realm, making it impossible to predict when or where they’ll show up.

That’s why most villages and towns have their own forces to deal with monsters, though those forces are often not enough. When that happens, if the hero’s party is nearby, we take care of it.

The village we were heading toward had sent such a request. The river they relied on for water had been taken over by goblins and orcs.

Now, how is our party going to get there? Thankfully, we didn’t have to walk the entire way like commoners.

However, for me, there was a catch—I had never used the mode of transportation we were about to take: horses.

"Sorry, Louis. I couldn’t get you a horse."

Snort.

‘Are you a prince or something?’

The hero’s white stallion shook its well-groomed mane as it waited for him. Surrounding it were the horses of the three heroines, gathered around the hero’s majestic steed.

Now that I think about it, I heard this white horse was a gift from the emperor. Apparently, it’s a top breed. The heroines’ horses also seemed to understand this, as they refused to stray too far from the hero’s stallion.

For the record, the horses matched the gender of their owners.

"So it seems like you’ll have to ride with someone until we can find you a horse…"

"Hmm."

I glanced around, hoping there might be a cart or wagon, but unfortunately, there wasn’t. Ideally, I’d stay locked up in my lab and only come out when needed, but I couldn’t do that because of the limitations of magic.

The door to my lab was fixed to specific coordinates, meaning it couldn’t follow a moving horse. In the end, I had no choice but to ride with one of the four.

"I guess I’ll ride with Lafiré…"

Riding with one of the heroines would undoubtedly be uncomfortable due to… well, certain physical attributes. But I couldn’t very well ride with the hero either, unless I wanted the three heroines to glare daggers at me the whole time.

But then, an unexpected twist occurred.

"No, Wishie won’t let anyone else ride with her. She’s got a bit of a temper."

"Eh?"

Wishie was the name of Lafiré’s horse. I looked at the creature in disbelief, but it shot me a cold glare as if to say, ‘What are you staring at?’

Honestly, the horse was so large and imposing that I instinctively took a step back toward the hero.

"Then how about Serlin…?"

"I’m wearing armor, so it’ll be really uncomfortable. Are you sure you want to ride with me?"

"Ugh…"

It wasn’t just the armor. Serlin also had several weapons, equipment, and even a bit of armor on her horse. Riding with her would be like sleeping on a bed of rocks.

"What about Aria…?"

"Oh, I’m fine!"

"…I’m not."

I almost considered it, but then I looked at Aria’s… rather dangerous chest. If the horse stumbled on a rock, my neck might snap.

"Why is this happening…"

In the end, there was only one option left.

"Then ride with me."

"I guess that’s how it’ll be."

The hero’s armor was lighter than Serlin’s, so it wouldn’t be as uncomfortable. Of course, the uncomfortable part would be the stares from the three heroines following us.

"Hop on… Oh, wait. I’ll help you up."

"Huh? No, that’s okay—"

Before I could protest, the hero jumped down from his horse, grabbed me under my arms, and easily hoisted me onto the horse.

I flailed awkwardly in the air before finally grabbing the reins and settling onto the saddle.

"I could have gotten up on my own."

"Sorry, sorry. Next time I’ll just give you a hand."

In truth, I couldn’t have gotten up on my own. The horse, like its owner, was huge, and I couldn’t even reach the stirrups.

So there I was, dangling my feet like a child sitting on a chair too high for them.

"Hup."

With a light jump, the hero mounted the horse behind me.

"Wait… why am I sitting in the front?"

"Huh? Where else would you sit?"

Shouldn’t I be sitting behind him? As it was, with the hero’s arms holding the reins, it felt like I was trapped in a cage. His broad shoulders and chest made it impossible to move.

"Hmm."

"Let me know if you’re uncomfortable."

"I’m not uncomfortable."

‘It’s the stares from behind that are uncomfortable.’

I couldn’t help but be hyper-aware of the three heroines following us. No matter how big the horse was, space was limited, and with the horse’s movement, it was impossible not to be pressed up against the hero.

‘This won’t do.’

I pulled out a pen and tried to focus on my research, scribbling down notes as best as I could without disturbing the hero or the horse.

"Are you working on something?"

"Yes."

"What kind of research?"

"You wouldn’t understand if I explained."

"Haha… that’s probably true, but I’m still curious. What are you working on?"

"A gravity-reduction enchantment."

"Gravity…?"

"Basically, if I attach it to your boots, you’ll be able to jump higher and fall slower."

"That sounds amazing…"

"I know."

I heard the hero chuckle, and when I looked up, he was smiling at me. I was just stating a fact, so I didn’t understand what was so funny.

Time passed, and soon enough, nightfall arrived.

"We should arrive by tomorrow morning. Let’s make camp here for the night."

"Sounds good!"

"I’ll take the first watch tonight."

After enjoying a meal prepared by Aria, the group busily set up tents and a campfire. I watched them for a while before heading to a quiet corner of the campsite, where I set up a door connected to my lab.

"I’ll sleep over there."

"There? Wait, what? A door?"

"What is that…?"

It’s my sweet lab. Since there was a bed in the lab, I could sleep there comfortably.

"Wow… wow…"

The saintess clapped awkwardly in amazement. Meanwhile, Lafiré and Serlin looked away, clearly annoyed. As for the hero… he awkwardly folded up one of the tents he had been setting up.

‘Was he planning to make a tent for me?’

The hero had already finished setting up his tent, and the heroines had done the same, so the only one left was mine.

"Hold on a moment."

Before they could misunderstand further, I hurried into my lab and came back out holding four keys.

"Take these."

"Huh?"

"Turn them in the air as if you’re opening a door."

Click.

When the hero turned the key, a door appeared in mid-air. The remaining three heroines followed suit, their keys unlocking doors that appeared in the air.

"They’re prototypes, but you can use them."

The four keys in their hands were the result of numerous failed experiments during my attempt to put my lab into a subspace. While smaller than my lab, each key opened up a small space big enough to fit a person and their belongings.

"You can sleep inside if you want. There’s basic furniture and some magical tools for washing. But if you prefer to sleep outside…"

"No way!"

"Thank you!"

"Thank you so much!"

The three heroines quickly responded, grabbing their belongings and heading inside their new rooms. Since there were simple beds inside, sleeping should be no problem.

Finally, the hero turned to me.

"…Thanks, Louis. I’ll make good use of it."

"Don’t mention it."

With a brief word of thanks, he disappeared into his own space. Looking at the four doors floating in mid-air, I cast some protective magic around the area and then returned to my own lab to sleep.